Earlier this year, Apple announced a new mobile advertising platform called iAd. The platform powers ads within iPhone apps allowing developers to collect a 60% share of advertising revenue. iAds are enabled with iOS 4 and have begun to appear in the wild according to a report by AppleInsider.

One advantage behind an iAd compared to traditional ads is that if a user clicks on it, it won’t cause them to exit the app to launch a browser. The hope is that fact will encourage more users to click on ads within an app.

As we reported back in April, Apple is charging a premium for advertisers to be the first to use the iAd platform. AppleInsider states that two early sponsors of the platform include Dove and Nissan who it is believed paid $10 million for the honor. An example of the capabilities around an iAd is demonstrated by Nissan in a video posted on YouTube. Nissan’s ad is for their new LEAF vehicle.

It seems not the entire iAd network is up at the moment since there are reports that some applications still have nothing more than a placeholder for an iAd. iPad users won’t see any iAds soon since the platform requires iOS 4 and that won’t be available until November for Apple’s tablet.